Lighter later

The way our clocks are set in the UK means for much of the year, most of us waste daylight in the early mornings while we're asleep, then have to make our way home in the dark in the evening. This creates extra problems for road safety because of the dangers faced by people on foot and bike on dark winter evenings, when they are harder for drivers to spot. By changing our clocks for good, we can prevent many needless deaths and injuries.

What needs to be done?

Brake is part of a coalition of organisations calling for our clocks to be put forward by an hour year-round – to GMT+2 in summer and GMT+1 in winter. This would make our evenings lighter and give us more daylight during waking hours. It would be a life saver, making vulnerable road users such as pedestrians and cyclists easier to spot in the evenings – it's estimated this would stop 80 deaths and hundreds of serious injuries every year, preventing unnecessary suffering and saving the NHS £138 million annually.

Putting the clocks forward would also have plenty of other benefits. It's predicted it would cut 447,000 tonnes of CO2 pollution, and save all of us money on our energy bills, because we would have to put our lights on less. There would also be a big boost to leisure, tourism, and healthy life-styles because we would all get that bit more daylight to play with.

What can I do?

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Professionals

Every 30 seconds someone, somewhere in the world is killed in a road crash. Brake works to stop road deaths and injuries by campaigning for safer roads; supports people bereaved or injured in road crashes; and raises public awareness for sustainable transport. Registered charity No. 1093244